I was originally going to write something about the first 2 albums i ever bought (Toe To Toe's- Threats and Facts and Madball's- Set It Off) but after listening to the Toe To Toe back catalog tonight they have stolen this post.
I was 12 years old when i first saw Toe To Toe, they were the first hardcore band that i ever saw live and also the first hardcore band i ever heard full stop. Lucky for me they played a "festival" at my local beach, Maroubra, along with some punk and rock bands. They blew every other band of the stage and i am lucky enough to have a vhs of their set that features me and a whole bunch of people i am still good friends with to this day circle pitting our heads off, haha.
That day changed my life, after seeing them play this perfect mixture of punk and metal i wanted more of this hardcore stuff.
It combined the punk and metal that i was already listening too, but it had more aggression and "realness" that i really connected with.
The following Monday i got my Dad to drive me to Resist and i purchased, probably with my Dad's money (thanks Dad!) my first hardcore records. From there it just snowballed, id check thanks lists, listen to mix tapes my friends (Ricky!) made me, read zines, etc, etc. It was such a crazy world and it really did take some researching, i guess alot unlike today.
Through Ricky i met Scott (the singer of TTT) and the two of them would sneak me into shows/pubs (haha)
I distinctly remember jumping the back fence of the Iron Duke Hotel straight onto a table seating amongst other big, tattooed and frightening looking dudes, Scott and Freddy Madball, and them just laughing at me, and giving me some weird black beer that tasted like shit.
15 years later iam still involved in this crazy fucking music and listening to these songs is bringing back alot of memorys.
Toe To Toe in their prime where unmatchable. To this day still one of the best live bands i have ever seen, and definately some of the craziest live shows i have ever witnessed.
Scott is still playing out live with what sadly has become a bit of a revolving line up of dudes on the instruments, but fuck it, its his band he can do what he wants with it. I know one thing, next time they are playing in Sydney ill be going to check it out.
If you can, get your hands on their discography "The Best Defence Is Attack"
